Reconnecting kids, nature

Updated 9:05 am, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Richard Louv, who coined the term “nature-deficit disorder,” wrote “Last Child in the Woods.”

Richard Louv, who coined the term “nature-deficit disorder,” wrote “Last Child in the Woods.”

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Richard Louv, who coined the term "nature-deficit disorder," wrote "Last Child in the Wood."

Richard Louv, who coined the term "nature-deficit disorder," wrote "Last Child in the Wood."

Photo: Courtesy Photo

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Jody Castro, marketing specialist with San Antonio Parks and Recreation, suggests that parents with small children choose trails that are fairly flat and have a smooth surface, such as trails in the new Howard W. Peak Greenway Trail System.

Jody Castro, marketing specialist with San Antonio Parks and Recreation, suggests that parents with small children choose trails that are fairly flat and have a smooth surface, such as trails in the new Howard

Eisenhower Park: The .4-mile Yucca Paved Trail is fairly level and appropriate for young children. For energetic children ages 5 and up, the paved Cedar Flats Trail goes uphill to the observation tower and on to the Shady Creek and Hillview Natural trails, which are rockier and not stroller-friendly.

PHOTO: Adventure Club San Antonio members Michele Bosse (from left), Denise Conley-Friedman and Dirk Davidek hike up a trail in Eisenhower Park on May 20, 2002.

Eisenhower Park: The .4-mile Yucca Paved Trail is fairly level and appropriate for young children. For energetic children ages 5 and up, the paved Cedar Flats Trail goes uphill to the observation tower and on

Friedrich Wilderness Park: The half-mile Forest Range trail is level and paved. Peggy Spring, education coordinator for natural areas with San Antonio Parks and Recreation, recommends going up to the windmill on the Water Trail for children older than toddlers. The first part is stroller-friendly and the final unpaved part can be managed with a rugged stroller.

PHOTO: The Dinkin family — Gentry (from left), 12, David, Amantha, 15, and Susan — pauses to survey the landscape while on a hike at Friedrich Wilderness Park on Oct. 28, 2012.

Friedrich Wilderness Park: The half-mile Forest Range trail is level and paved. Peggy Spring, education coordinator for natural areas with San Antonio Parks and Recreation, recommends going up to the windmill

O.P. Schnabel Park: The Big OP Loop and Old Tower Climb Trail, each a mile long, and the .7-mile Bluff Loop are concrete; the mile-long Tower Loop and 1.6-mile Sleeper Trail are soil. A 7.7-mile section of Leon Creek Greenway North runs through.

PHOTO: Josh Ruder (right), 17, right, answers questions from Kim and Isaiah Davis about Oswald, one of two African Sulcata spur-thighed tortoises Ruder and his brother Chance brought to O.P. Schnabel Park to provide the tortoises with a change of scene and forage on Sept. 28, 2008.

O.P. Schnabel Park: The Big OP Loop and Old Tower Climb Trail, each a mile long, and the .7-mile Bluff Loop are concrete; the mile-long Tower Loop and 1.6-mile Sleeper Trail are soil. A 7.7-mile section of Leon

Journalist Richard Louv coined a phrase to describe a societal change that many felt but few discussed: nature-deficit disorder.

In his best-seller “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder” he cautions that kids are spending more time indoors and in front of electronic screens and less time climbing trees, making forts and enjoying unstructured free time in nature.

“He was able to really illuminate a problem that no one had put a name to yet,” says Margaret Lamar with the preservation group Houston Wilderness. “People knew there was a disconnect happening. He was able to pull together research and stories that showed us that this was a bigger problem.”

Louv visits San Antonio on Wednesday to speak at the San Antonio Children's Museum's annual Outside the Lunchbox Luncheon. The $75-a-seat event at Pearl Brewery is nearly sold out.

Vanessa Lacoss Hurd, executive director of the Children's Museum, says officials there are excited to host Louv and start a local dialogue about the importance of nature in child development.

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“Outdoor play in natural environments is crucial to children's health,” Hurd says, noting that the museum's new facility under construction, to open in 2015, will feature 30,000 square feet of outdoor attractions.

The back-to-nature movement is attempting to turn the tide at a time when America faces both a childhood obesity epidemic — in 2010, more than a third of U.S. children were overweight or obese — and a rise in diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The term “nature-deficit disorder” is not a medical diagnosis. Rather, Louv said in a phone interview, “It's to stimulate a conversation about the price we pay for alienation from nature, no matter how old we are.”

In Texas, Louv's book has sparked incredible action on the ground.

“What Rich has done is ignite a passion that has crossed so many realms of professions and backgrounds and people, and focused us together on kids,” says Nancy Herron, outreach and education director with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “It's like pieces of a puzzle, and he revealed the picture. It was just such an 'aha' moment for so many of us.”

Herron points out that the issue has brought together advocates on both sides of the political spectrum.

In January, former first lady Laura Bush cited Louv's book in a guest column for the Express-News about the importance of time spent in nature.

“Unstructured, natural play helps stimulate creativity and improves problem solving,” she wrote. “The more time spent outside, the better the achievement levels inside our state's schools and classrooms. But this issue goes beyond achievement. We all, parents, educators, community leaders, and every Texas citizen, need to come together to find new ways to engage children with the natural environment. Our state's future depends upon it. If we do not instill a love of the natural world and its care in our children, who will care for Texas in the years to come?”

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An Unnatural Childhood

Children ages 8 to 18 spend an average of 7.5 hours a day — more than 50 hours per week — connected to a TV, computer, video games and other electronic media.

A child is six times more likely to play a video game than ride a bike.

In the 2009-2010 Fitnessgram school year report, only a little more than 8 percent of 12th-graders were deemed physically fit.

As the movement catches on, new efforts in Texas include the recent creation of a statewide Natural Resource/Environmental Literacy Plan and the formation of Texas Children in Nature, a network of people in government and nonprofits that has carved out six regional groups across the state to promote the cause.

Koy Coffer, who leads the San Antonio regional group, trains teachers and oversees field trips to private ranches, teaching children about soil, water, tracks, habitats and the wildlife of Texas.

“We want to get them out where they can slow down,” says Coffer, education and program specialist with the Texas Wildlife Association, headquartered in San Antonio. “They always say the thing they like the best is to 'chill' a little.”

She notices how still the children become watching a bird or an armadillo.